May 11

Webmaster's note: Today's report comes in three pieces. The first, from Kent, details their day. The second, from Dana, recounts their 12-mile search for more turtles. The final section recounts a late-night arribada.

Part 1
We all arose very early this morning ( 4:00 am ). Joey left this morning from the small airstrip on the northern part of the peninusla and Louis, Dana, Diana and me (Kent) headed south by boat, through the labyrinth of canals to the jungle trail which leads to the coast. Louis and I escorted Dana and Diana through the jungle and wished them good luck as they walked the beach from mile 15 to the station, a total of 12 3/8 miles.

Louis and I returned to Tortuguero to find our naturalist friend Darrell to take us out in his boat again to get a better understanding of this delicate ecosystem. We found Darrell and off we went. One of the first things we encountered were a pair of very rarely seen river otters, the otters played just as you would expect them to, playing tag along the canal edge and keeping a watchful eye on us. Later on we had a close encounter with a Keel-billed Toucan (Ramphastos sulfuratus), a chestnut-mandibled Toucan (Ramphastos swainsonii), a Bare-throated Tiger-Heron (Tigrisoma mexicanum) and the Chestnut-headed Oropendola,(Psarocolius wagleri).

Kent and Louis work to remove the humerus collected from a stranded green turtle.

After Louis and I returned to the station we began hiking down the beach toward Dana and Diana and met them around mile 4. We all headed back to the station and had lunch. Louis and I defleshed Green Turtle flippers to retrieve the Humeri (upper arm bones).

Orchids at the Canadian Biological Research Station.

That evening we headed by boat up toward Barra del Colorado to investigate some local orchids at the Canadian Biological Research Station.

Part 2
Today Diana and I (Dana) walked along the beach from mile 15 to the CCC station, which is about a 12 ½ mile distance, in search for turtle bones. Fortunately for the turtles, there were no stranded or jaguar-killed turtles for us to collect. Although we did not encounter any jaguar-killed turtles, we did encounter many jaguar tracks in the sand. The prints were those of a mother and her cub. Unfortunately, (although this may be a matter of opinion) we did not see either cat. The CCC research assistants have experienced many encounters with the jaguars during this nesting season. We collected a few water samples along the way for isotopic analysis.

Dr. Louis Jacobs presents the elementary school in Tortuguero with a multimedia PC, donated to the school by TheFernleaf.com.

The ISEM team, teachers and schoolchildren.

After our group trip to the Canadian Biological Research Station, Diana, Louis, Kent, and I returned to the village of Tortuguero, where we met with the village school teacher. The school was having a dedication ceremony for a new kindergarten wing that is being added to the two-room building. Through a generous donation of an ISEM supporter, we are donating to the school a multimedia desktop computer system. We feel that it is important to support the educational process, wherever we go.

Tonight is Louis' and Kent's last night in Tortuguero. Tomorrow they will be heading out to the cloud forest in northwestern Costa Rica to look at the Mesozoic geology. Diana and I will remain in Tortuguero until Monday, when we head south for the Pacuare Reserve. Stay tuned for our next adventure!

Tuanis!
El Grupo Tortugas

Part 3
It is leatherback nesting time, a few weeks early for green turtles. Every night the beach is patrolled by CCC researchers who measure turtles, count eggs, and record the location of nests for every turtle that comes ashore.

Tonight we came across a nesting leatherback. It was just after the moon rose. Up from the sea ran a trail that looked like a small tractor, curving around and then up the beach away from the shore. There sat the turtle, all 183 cm, roughly 6 feet of her. She dug an egg chamber with her hind flippers, then deposited 83 eggs, the last few being smaller and yolkless. Then she covered the chamber with sand, packing it gingerly and tamping it down. Then she flailed her fore flippers, throwing sand to camouflage the nest, spattering Dana as she searched its carapace for barnacles. The job completed, she headed back to the sea, resting and puffing every few yards.

Walking back to the camp, we came across a turtle just leaving the sea. It climbed all the way over the berm, then gave up, turned around, and headed back to the sea as fast as a hawksbill turtle can go.

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